


the love that you've looked for

by ADreamingSongbird



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Ash Lynx Lives, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Post-Canon, dancing in the kitchen at 2am vibes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:27:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25237705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ADreamingSongbird/pseuds/ADreamingSongbird
Summary: In the middle of the night, Eiji wakes to an empty bed, the smell of pancakes, and faint strains of music.
Relationships: Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji
Comments: 26
Kudos: 294





	the love that you've looked for

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by [this tumblr post](https://ro-omantics.tumblr.com/post/623214087876296705) and the ensuing conversation it sparked in the fishing for bananas discord server. special shoutout to kylie for drawing the dumbass himself in all his fashionable glory

Something wakes Eiji up in the middle of the night.

He’s not sure what rouses him, initially; it’s not alarm or dread, as he lies in bed, groggy and not-entirely-awake. He’s comfortably warm, his pillow is soft, the room is still dark, so…

Faint, faint music drifts from the kitchen. He groans and scrubs a hand over his eyes, rolling over, and realizes the other side of the bed is empty. Where is Ash…?

It takes a moment longer to click that if there’s music coming from the kitchen and Ash is missing from his side, it stands to reason that Ash is awake and in the kitchen. Which is odd, because Ash definitely was here a few hours ago, when they went to bed together. So he must have gotten up, which means…

Eiji should check on him. Just to be safe.

He groans, rubbing his eyes, and sits at the edge of the bed for several seconds as he tries to adjust to being more or less upright. He’s sleepy. What time is it…?

A quick glance at his phone tells him it’s half past two. He squints at it in the darkness—even on the lowest setting, it’s still too bright—and puts it back on the nightstand, then stretches his arms over his head and slowly stands. He shuffles out of the bedroom, shielding his eyes against the light from the kitchen with a hand, and slowly makes his way down the hall.

The music is louder, with the bedroom door open, but it’s still quiet enough that Eiji knows it isn’t what woke him. Ash is very kind and considerate; he doesn’t play things loudly when Eiji is sleeping. At least it isn’t a sad song.

 _“If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes on the cape,”_ the words drift out, as Eiji pauses in the entryway to the kitchen.

And stares.

Ash stands at the stove, his back to Eiji, swaying his hips in time to the beat. His hair is wet, and there’s a recently-discarded towel slung over the back of the barstool nearest him; he’s wearing one of Eiji’s shirts—it has Bicky on the front and Dick on the back—but, for once, that isn’t what catches Eiji’s eye.

It’s the _shorts._

Bright red, trimmed with white. They could be traditional gym shorts, except for the text written across the ass. And boy, is there a lot of text. It’s a small wall of it, and Eiji squints without the aid of his contacts. What does it _say…?_

He moves closer, craning his neck to peer at the paragraph without really thinking, and—

“Wow, Eiji. Are you, like, ogling my ass?”

Eiji lets out a strangled shriek in surprise and jumps about a foot in the air, stumbling back. Ash has _got_ to stop sensing him without any indication he knows he’s there! They both know that Ash knows, but he should at least acknowledge it! He’s going to give Eiji a heart attack one of these days!

“No!” Eiji flaps a hand at him, distressed. “Ash! That is not—I was—you were just—”

“I’m just saying,” and Ash turns, still swaying to the beat. There’s a spatula in his hand, and in the pan in front of him, Eiji sees some scrambled eggs. “You’re the one guy allowed to stare at my ass, but like, c’mon. At _least_ tell me I have pretty eyes first.”

“Ash!” Eiji protests, cheeks flushing. “No! I was just trying to—not that you _don’t_ have pretty eyes, you do, I really like them—but I didn’t—it was not that—”

“You like what you saw, huh?” Ash waves the spatula at him, using it like a wand to trace a heart. “You could’ve told me you’re an ass man, Eiji!”

At least if he’s teasing this much, he can’t be in too much distress. The jerk.

 _“Ash!”_ Eiji stamps a foot, indignant. “I am sleepy and I was worried about you because you were not in bed! And _what_ is on your shorts?”

Ash laughs, and the entire room lights up with the wonder of it. He turns to the stove again, stirring the eggs, and then gives Eiji a teasing look over his shoulder and winks as he sticks out his ass. “Here, read all you like.”

Eiji lightly smacks his shoulder, but leans down again to squint at the text. It says…

_I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world._

“…What?”

Ash turns off the stove, sets the spatula down, and turns around to take Eiji’s hands. The song loops back to the beginning, something about piña coladas, and Ash starts dancing him back and forth to it, taking steps that Eiji’s sleep-addled brain can’t quite follow.

“It’s a quote from a book. _The Song of Achilles._ It’s good. I think you might like it.”

Ash moves with fluid grace, even in the kitchen at two-something in the morning, barefoot and wearing the most ridiculous clothing combination Eiji has ever seen. There’s a hot pink, sparkly hairclip keeping his bangs off his face. Eiji recognizes it as the one his little sister forgot at their place ages ago.

“Why is it on your shorts?” Eiji asks, and trips over his own feet as he tries to keep up. Ash laughs again and steadies him, squeezing his hands.

“Here, follow my count. One-and-two, three-and-four. One-and-two, three-and-four. It’s… kind of a salsa. We’re ignoring the fact that this isn’t salsa music. One-and-two, three-and-four. Yeah! There you go!”

A salsa. Ash taught him the basic step to the salsa, ages ago. Eiji blinks a few times and tries to remember. Right, it’s a big step to the side, and then a tiny one back and forward again. Yeah. Oh, oh, he just has to mirror Ash! That’s not so bad.

“Yeah! You’re doing it. Good job.” Ash pecks his forehead, then shifts their hold, wrapping his arm around Eiji’s waist. Eiji responds by setting his hand on Ash’s shoulder, and keeps concentrating on his feet. “Alex ‘n’ a couple of the boys pooled to custom order ‘em for my birthday one year. I was reading the book all through the birthday party they threw me the year before. They thought it’d be funny.”

Eiji risks looking up from his feet to see Ash. He’s bright and awake and full of warmth, unlike Eiji, who isn’t entirely sure this entire thing isn’t just a bizarre dream sequence. Are those blueberry pancakes behind Ash?

Ash catches his eye, then gives him the warmest, most adoring smile he’s ever seen. “They’re pretty comfy, actually. But hey, don’t tell ‘em I’m actually wearing these! Pretty sure they’d all faint of shock on the spot. Now spin!”

He lets go of Eiji’s waist and twirls him under one arm, and Eiji isn’t entirely sure what he’s doing. He turns the wrong way, and Ash catches him and laughs at him again.

“I will tell them,” Eiji huffs, and bats at his shoulder. It’s a little damp from his hair. “Stop laughing at me.”

“I would never do such a thing.” Ash sways him through the basic step again, at least, instead of trying to spin him. “Next time, just turn the other way. It’ll feel smoother, I promise.”

“How am I supposed to know which way…?” Eiji grouses. “I am _sleepy!_ Why are you even awake?”

“Woke up a while ago.” Ash shrugs. “Couldn’t fall asleep again.”

Eiji slows their steps, and Ash lets him, so that they’re swaying in each other’s arms rather than actually dancing. “Nightmare?”

Ash presses his lips together and nods. “But it’s fine. Took a shower, that helped with that. Just wasn’t sleepy again after. So I figured… may as well eat something.”

“So you made… blueberry pancakes?” Eiji peers over his shoulder at the counter. Yeah, there’s a small stack of them sitting there. “And… eggs?”

“And a couple of other things,” Ash agrees, and this time, when he holds up his arm to let Eiji spin under it, Eiji goes the right way. “Good job.”

Eiji ignores that for the moment, though he can’t deny that he likes the praise. Even if it _is_ half sarcastic because Ash is a stinky, mean asshole bastard who forgets that not everyone is good at dancing when they just woke up. “Are you okay?”

That gets another shrug, and Ash leans in and nuzzles his nose. Eiji can smell the lavender and rose from his shampoo. “Eh. My life is in shambles, but hey, it’s fine! I’ve got toast.”

Eiji rolls his eyes. “In shambles, this, in shambles, that. You are wearing literature quote shorts. You did this to yourself.”

Words aside, though, he reaches up and strokes Ash’s hair back from his face. _I would know him blind,_ he thinks, and remembers a dark day from their past.

He wonders what Ash thinks of that quote. Perhaps he’s reading too much into a gag gift. Or, perhaps…

“What’s that look for?” Ash lightly bops his nose. “You look contemplative, sweetie. Getting philosophical about the nature of what you just read on my ass?”

Eiji gives him a dour look. “I came here to check on you, because I was worried, and all you do is talk about your ass. Maybe I do not want to hear about your ass. Did you consider that?”

“I might have, but the first thing you did when you came in here was stare at it, so I think my conclusions are justified by the evidence presented.” Ash gives him a little grin, clearly pleased with himself.

“I do not have _eyes_ that _work,_ and you know that!”

And, honestly? Eiji really is trying to be grumpy, but the fact of the matter is that he’s just grateful that Ash is alright. That he’s managing to joke around, that he’s dancing and teasing and smiling. Taking hot showers and making himself food, to take care of himself, even when he couldn’t bring himself to wake Eiji to seek help.

So if Ash _really_ wants to give Eiji a hard time for “staring at his ass”, fine. Eiji will let him have this one. He can always get him later.

“Yeah, I know.” Ash rubs his back, as if to placate him, but there’s a little playful glint in his eye that suggests that he’s got ulterior motives. “Don’t worry, Birdie. I like your ass, too.”

His hand drops from Eiji’s waist to his ass, and true to form, Ash squeezes it and then pats it, too, grinning like the cat with the cream. Eiji doesn’t jump anymore; he just rolls his eyes and pokes Ash’s cheek.

“You had better like it. I spent years on the track team.”

That gets another wonderful, magical laugh out of Ash. Just as Eiji hoped it would. Pleased, he squeezes Ash’s hand, and before Ash can get any ideas about twirling him around again, he steps in a little closer, to lay his head against Ash’s shoulder.

Ash immediately rests his cheek against his hair. Music and food and shower aside, he needs this, Eiji thinks; he’s always responded best to physical comfort, when in states of distress.

“Did I wake you?” Ash’s voice is soft, teasing gone for the moment. “Sorry. I was hoping to let you sleep.”

“No, I just woke up on my own, I think.” Eiji strokes his thumb over the base of Ash’s thumb. His hand is warm, for once; a hot shower and then dancing by the stove took care of that. “And then you were not there, and I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m okay,” Ash promises, and drops a quick kiss to the top of his head. “You’re very sweet, though. Even if—”

_“Ash.”_

“—you _do_ stare at my butt before you even say ‘hi’ to my face.”

Eiji doesn’t need to look up to know that Ash knows that he’s making the most deadpan, unamused face he can possibly muster. Ash laughs again, and Eiji lightly swats his arm. “You are the _worst_.”

“Mm, yeah, maybe so.”

“Hey!” Eiji does look up, at that. “Don’t you talk about the love of my life like that.”

Ash flushes a very adorable pink, standing there in his stolen T-shirt and his ridiculous red shorts and that hot pink, horribly contrasting hairclip. He gawks for a second, and then huffs. “What, so you can say it, but I can’t agree with you? That’s hardly fair!”

“Yes!” Eiji puffs out his cheeks. “Tough, but that’s how it works! Those are the rules!”

Ash rolls his eyes. “Yeah, right. What rules?”

“I will have you know that it is actually illegal to say mean things about the _love_ of my _life,”_ Eiji says, and punctuates the words with two pokes to Ash’s cheek before he returns his hand to Ash’s shoulder. “Illegal, you hear me?”

“Oh, no. I’m clearly a very law-abiding citizen.” Ash is smiling, though, even as he shakes his head and plays along. “What are you, a cop? Fuck off.”

“No, I am just your future husband.” Eiji swallows a yawn and pokes his cheek again. “So you better listen to me.”

“My future husband,” Ash repeats, and his voice goes _soft._ The look in his eye is even softer, and Eiji really can’t help it; he leans up on his toes and kisses Ash, gentle and affectionate.

When he pulls back, Ash melts into him, leaning against him, and presses their foreheads together. They just look at each other for a few seconds, and then Eiji has to swallow another yawn, and the moment is broken.

Ash smiles and nuzzles his nose. “I’m okay, Birdie. Why don’t you go back to sleep?”

Yes, he’s okay. But he could be _better_ than okay.

“No,” Eiji says, and gives him a cheeky little wink as he slides his hand down his back, slow enough that Ash could stop him if he wants. But Ash doesn’t, and Eiji pats the embroidered letters on his ass. “I hope you made enough pancake batter for two, literature-butt boy.”

“That’s a really dumb nickname,” Ash tells him, but as he turns back to check the bowl of batter by the stove, Eiji can still see him smiling.

**Author's Note:**

> i didnt edit this at all it is a shitpost that got too long for a tumblr drabble. my bad ksdjhkjhsjk
> 
> title is ofc from the pina colada song, which i listened to on loop the entire time i wrote this?
> 
> spot all the references to ash getting to heal. there are many and they are also hamfisted because i have no chill.


End file.
